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Thursday, November 22, 2012

Nic November: Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans and Face/Off

First of all, my apologies. I've been away from the blog for the past few days to focus on studying, and now those exams are all over. I did put a status up on Facebook, but because they've brought in those retarded new things so only 10% of my 'likers' can see my stuff pop up on their newsfeed, I doubt anyone saw it. Yay Facebook. Alas, Nic November is a day later, but I think Nicolas Cage films are just what I need to empty my brain out of all the biology stuff I've taught myself in the past three days. Now, aside from my Drama exam which won't take a lot of effort, I can run around the streets shouting out that "I'm a vampire!", reciting the alphabet in a very angry way and generally yelling and tearing stuff down. People underestimate the awesomeness in which Vampire's Kiss has bestowed upon people who no longer have to remember a whole lot of foreign terms.

Alas, we ain't talking about Vampire's Kiss here. We're talking about one of Nic's 'last good roles' in Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans and one of everyone's favourite 90s action films Face/Off. Which I apparently should have seen ages ago. Oops.

The Hairstyle: The Carefree Wind Sweeping

So anyway, I suppose that The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans was the last real meaty Cage Rage role. Seeking Justice, Trespass and Stolen all kind of melded into one, no-one remembers that Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance exists, Drive Angry, Season of the Witch and The Sorcerer's Apprentice were all fairly muted and apart from the "now SWIIIIIIITCH, to KRYPTONIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITE!" scene in Kick-Ass, there wasn't a lot of Cage Rage to be had over the poorly chosen places to put emphasis on his words. So yes, Werner Herzog's non-remake Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans it is.
So wow. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (I don't know why I'm still writing that ridiculously long title) wasn't just high for Cage Rage levels, it was high for general rage levels. That's probably because I was mega tired while watching this, so I pretty much had no idea of what was going on. Basically, Nic plays Terrence McDonagh, a lieutenant who is, well, bad, and is trying to investigate the killings of five Sengalese immigrants. All the while he gets high a lot. I would say that only Cage could get away with half of the stuff that he is seen doing on here, but things do get a little too strange, namingly that interesting carpark sex scene that has practically scarred me for life. That being said, I did like Cage here. He was wonderfully off the chain. Plus, I liked all the post-Katrina stuff going on in this film. And Val Kilmer was in here. All we needed was Ray Liotta and this would have been a real feast for my LOL bones. (that being said, I didn't really mind Kilmer either)

One thing I do have to ask, though: what was with all of the reptile stuff? Like the weird shots of that crocodile (?). I feel like that was some symbolism, but I totally missed it.

Cage Rage:

The Hairstyle: The 'Barely There'

Face/Off is a film I totally enjoyed, though. And I honestly wasn't expecting to, given my aversion to most 90s action films - which means that I probably wouldn't have watched this film had I not been doing this marathon thing. So yes, Nicolas, I have to thank you for introducing me to this little gem of an action film.

One thing I was not expecting, though, was Nicolas and John Travolta to literally swap roles. From the beginning, I was thinking that this was some more typical Cage Rage, in the vein of Vampire's Kiss. And then John Travolta became Nicolas Cage, and Nicolas Cage then became John Travolta. Which I guess I thought was pretty disappointing because I always love a bit of Cage Rage, but it was fairly entertaining to see John Travolta do his best Nicolas Cage. So for the rest of the film, we had Travolta being all crazy and Nicolas Cage being given the more sentimental, nice guy role. And to be honest, he actually nailed it. He was given his chance to go crazy at the beginning (and that craziness would have been enough to last an entire film), and then he got to be somewhat settled down for the rest of it. The guy nearly made me cry, for heaven's sake.

I think this movie really succeeds because it is the ultimate test of good and evil, but it is given the flair of an above average blockbuster. I just thought it was really cool. And damn entertaining. Probably everything a blockbuster should be.

Cage Rage:

What do you think of these films? Are you a fan of Bad Lieutenant, or is Face/Off more your bag?